Essence of the Svetasvatara Upanishad

by Swami Sivananda

1. This Upanishad belongs to the Krishna-Yajurveda. It gets its name from Rishi Svetasvatara who taught the truth contained in it to his disciples. It presents a mixture of Vedanta, Sankhya and Yoga tenets.

2. In this Upanishad Siva or Rudra is declared to be the creator, preserver and destroyer of the world. He is the material and efficient cause of this world. He is identified with the Supreme Brahman.

Om. May That protect us both (teacher and pupil). May That cause us both to enjoy the bliss (of Mukti). May we both exert to find out the true meaning of the scriptures. May our learning be brilliant. May we never quarrel with each other!

Om Peace, Peace, Peace!

Adhyaya One

The Ultimate Cause

3. The enquirers of Brahman converse with one another, What is the cause? Is it Brahman? Whence are we born? By whom do we live? Where do we ultimately abide? By whom governed, in pains and pleasures, do we live over various conditions, O ye, knowers of Brahman!

4. Time, inherent nature, law or necessity or chance or the elements or matter or a womb or a male are to be considered as a cause. It is not a combination of these, because of the existence of the soul (Atman). The soul (the individual soul) also is not free, as it is under the sway of pleasure and pain.

5. They who practised meditation realised or saw as the cause of creation the power of God (Devatma-Sakti), hidden in His own qualities (Gunas), which alone rules over all these causes enumerated above, beginning with time and ending with the individual soul.

The Divine Wheel

6. We understood Him as a wheel which has one felly with a triple tyre with sixteen end-parts, fifty spokes, twenty counter-spokes, with six sets of eights, which has one rope of various forms, which has three different roads or paths and which has one revolution for two causes.

7. God is meditated upon as the wheel of this universe, and circumference of this wheel is Maya.

8. The three tyres are the three qualities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas or time, space and causation.

9. The sixteen end-parts are sixteen modifications or Vikritis, viz. the five organs of knowledge, the five organs of action and mind and the five gross elements.

13. We understand Him as a river of five sources, impetuous and crooked, whose waves are the five Pranas or vital breaths, whose original source is the fivefold perception, which has five whirlpools, which is impelled by the velocity of the fivefold misery or pain, which is divided by the five kinds of misery, and which has five turnings or branches.

The five senses represent the five streams.

The five Pranas represent the waves.

The five objects of the senses viz., sound, touch etc. are called whirlpools, because the individual souls get drowned in them.

The five kinds of pain are the pain arising from existence in the womb, from birth, old age, disease and death.

14. In the infinite wheel of Brahman in which everything lives and rests, the pilgrim-soul, or the reincarnating self is whirled about when it thinks that it and the supreme Ruler are different or separate. It attains immortality when it is blessed or favoured by Him.

15. This is verily declared as the supreme Brahman. In that is the triad. It is the firm support. It is the indestructible. By knowing what is therein, the knowers of Brahman become devoted to Brahman, merge themselves in it and are liberated from birth.

16. The triad are the world, the individual soul and the supreme Soul. The triad are the enjoyer, the objects of enjoyment and the supreme Soul. It may mean also the waking state, dream and deep sleep.

God, World, Man

17. The Lord supports this universe which consists of a combination of the perishable and the imperishable, the manifest and the unmanifest. As long as the individual soul does not know the Lord, it is attached to sensual pleasures. It becomes the enjoyer and is bound. When it knows the Lord, it is released from all fetters.

18. The knowing Lord and the unknowing individual soul, the Omnipotent and the impotent, are both unborn. She (Prakriti), too, who is connected with the enjoyed and objects of enjoyment, who causes the realisation of the enjoyer and enjoyed, is unborn. When all these three are realised as Brahman, the Self becomes infinite, universal and inactive (free from the sense of agency and actor).

19. Matter is perishable, but God is immortal and imperishable. He, the only God, rules over the perishable matter and the individual souls. By meditating upon Him, by union with Him, finally there is cessation of all illusion.

20. By knowledge of God all the bonds of ignorance are destroyed; there is a cessation of birth and death with distress destroyed. By meditating on Him one attains the third state, viz., universal Lordship at the dissolution of the body. All his desires are gratified and he becomes one without a second.

21. This is to be known as eternally existing in one's own Self. Truly there is nothing higher than that to be known. When one recognises the enjoyed, the object of enjoyment and the dispenser or the supreme Ruler, all has been said. This is threefold Brahman.

22. Realisation is not achieving something. It is only knowing one's own infinite nature by tearing the veils, by annihilating the ignorance, by cutting asunder the three knots, viz., ignorance, desire and action.

23. As fire is not perceived when it is latent in its cause, the firewood, and yet there is no destruction of its subtle form, because it is again perceived in its cause, the firewood, by rubbing, so also the Atman is perceived in the body by meditating on the sacred syllable Om.

24. By making one's own body the lower piece of wood or friction-stick, and the syllable Om the upper friction-stick, and by practising the friction or churning of meditation, one will realise God who is hidden, as it were.

25. As oil in sesamum seeds, as butter in curd, as water in river-beds and as fire in wood, even so is Atman perceived within his own self by a person who beholds Him by truth, austerity (by controlling his senses and the mind).

26. The Atman which pervades all things like butter in milk, is rooted in Self-knowledge and austerity. This is the mystic doctrine concerning Brahman. This is the mystic doctrine concerning Brahman.

Adhyaya Two

The Process of Meditation

27. Concentrating first the mind and the senses upon Brahman for realising the Truth, may Savitri, having seen the illuminating fire (of wisdom), bring it out of the earth (matter in general).

28. By the grace of the divine Savitri, let us, with concentrated mind, strive vigorously for the attainment of supreme bliss.

29. Having controlled the senses, through which the heaven is attained, with the mind and the intellect let Savitri cause them to manifest the divine infinite Light.

30. Great is the glory of Savitri who is all-pervading, infinite, all-knowing, the one alone who knows the Ruler, has arranged the sacrificial rites by the Brahmana. He will control their mind and intellect and practise meditation.

31. I worship your ancient Brahman with reverence. My verses go forth like the sun on their course. May the sons of the Immortal listen, even those who inhabit celestial regions.

32. Where fire is kindled or churned out, where air is controlled, where the Soma juice overflows, there the mind is born.

33. Fire stands for the knowledge of the Self.

34. One experiences joy during meditation. This is drinking Soma juice.

35. Let us live the ancient Brahman by the grace of Savitri. If there thou attainest thy source (Brahman), thy former work will no longer bind thee.

36. Without Bhakti you cannot attain the grace which is essential for attaining the knowledge of Brahman.

37. Keeping his body in a straight posture, holding the chest, neck and the head erect, and drawing the senses and the mind into the heart, the wise should cross over the fearful currents of the world by means of the raft (or boat) of Brahman.

38. The fearful currents are the currents of Raga, Dvesha (likes and dislikes), Vasanas or subtle desires and Trishna (craving) which hurl down man into the ocean of births and deaths.

39. The raft of Brahman is Om. Silent Japa of Om with meditation on its meaning will help one to cross the ocean of Samsara, i.e., to free oneself from the rounds of births and deaths.

40. Controlling the senses, repressing and regulating the breathing, checking the movements of the body, gently breathing through the nostrils, the wise should undistractedly restrain his mind, that chariot yoked with vicious horses.

41. One should perform his exercises in concentration on a level plane, free from pebbles, fire, wind, dust, dampness and disturbing noises, where the scenery is charming and pleasing to the eyes and where there are bowers, caves, water places which help the concentration.

42. When Yoga is being performed, forms like snow or frost, smoke, the sun, fire, wind, fire-fly, lightning, crystal and the moon appear. They precede the manifestation of Brahman.

43. When the fivefold quality of Yoga arising from earth, water, fire, air and ether has been produced, then the Yogi is endowed with body made strong by the fire of Yoga, and so he will not be affected by disease, old age or death.

44. When the body is light and healthy, when his mind is free from desire, when he has a shining complexion, sweet voice and pleasant odour, when the excretions become scanty, they say that he has attained the first degree of concentration.

45. Just as a metal disc or mirror which was stained by dust before, shines brilliantly when it has been cleansed, so also the embodied being realises oneness, attains the end or goal, and is freed from sorrow, when he realises the true nature of the Atman.

46. When by the means of the real nature of his Self the Yogi sees as a lamp, the real nature of Brahman, then having known the unborn, Eternal God, who is free from all the modifications of Prakriti, he is freed from all fetters or sins.

47. He indeed is the God who pervades all regions. He is the first born (Hiranyagarbha). He has entered into the womb. He is inside all persons as the indwelling Self, looking everywhere (having His face in all directions).

48. Salutations, salutations to the God who is in the fire, who is in water, who is in plants, who is in trees, and who has pervaded the whole universe.

Adhyaya Three

The Realisation

49. He who rules alone by His powers, who rules all the worlds by His powers, who is one and the same at the time of creation and dissolution of the world they who know Him become immortal.

50. There is one Ruler only who rules all the worlds by His powers. There is no one besides Him who can make Him the second. He is present inside the hearts of all beings. He creates all the worlds and maintains and finally withdraws them into Himself.

51. Rudra represents here Para-Brahman or the Supreme Self, the infinite or the Absolute.

52. That one God, having His eyes, His face, His arms and His feet in every place, when producing heaven and earth, forges them together with His arms and His wings.

53. May Rudra, the creator and supporter of the gods, the great seer, the Lord of all, who created at first Hiranyagarbha, endow us with good thoughts (pure intellect).

54. O Rudra, with thy form which is auspicious, which is not dreadful, and which manifests what is holy, with that all-blessed form, appear to us, O dweller among the mountains!

55. O Lord of the mountains; make propitious the arrow which thou holdest in thy hands to shoot. Do not hurt man or the world, O mountain-protector!

56. Higher than the personal God is the supreme Brahman, who is infinite, who is concealed within all beings according to their bodies and who is the only pervader of the whole universe. By knowing Him as the Lord, one becomes immortal.

57. I know this mighty Being (Purusha) who shines effulgent like the sun beyond darkness. One passes beyond death, only by knowing Him. There is no other road for attaining liberation.

58. There is nothing higher than or different from Him, nothing greater or more minute than He. He alone stands in the heaven like a tree, one without a second, and immovable. The whole world is filled by that Being.

59. That which is beyond this world is without form and without suffering. Those who know It become Immortal; but others, instead, suffer pain only.

60. He (the Lord) has His face, head and neck everywhere (in everything). He dwells in the heart of all beings. He pervades all. Therefore, He is Omnipresent and propitious.

61. That person (Purusha) is indeed the great Lord. He controls everything. He is Light. He is everlasting. He guides the intellect of all beings in order to enable them to attain that extremely pure state (Moksha) .

62. The Purusha of the size of a thumb, who is concealed by the heart, intellect and mind, always dwells in the hearts of creatures as their inner Self. Those who know Him become immortal.

63. It is very difficult for a neophyte to fix the mind on the infinite. Therefore he is asked to meditate on a being of the size of a thumb, in his heart, to begin with.

64. The person (Purusha) has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, and a thousand feet. He envelopes the whole world on all sides and extends beyond it by ten fingers' breadth.

65. 'Ten fingers' means endless. Brahman envelopes the whole world on all sides and extends beyond it to infinity. He transcends the world.

66. 1409.Thousand heads: This indicates that the Lord (Virat-Purusha) possesses countless heads. All heads, all eyes, all hands, all feet belong to the Lord. It is He who works through all hands, eats through all mouths, sees through all eyes, hears through all ears, walks through all feet and thinks through all minds. If you remember this verse constantly, egoism will vanish. You will have an expanded heart. You will experience cosmic consciousness. You will identify yourself with the Virat-Purusha.

67. That Person alone (Purusha) is all this,what has been and what is visible. He is also the Lord of Immortality. He is whatever grows by food.

68. With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere, that exists encompassing everything in the world.

69. He shines forth with the qualities of all the senses, yet He is devoid of all senses. He is the Lord of all, the Ruler of all, the refuge of all, and the friend of all.

70. He dwells in the body, the city of nine gates. He is the soul (Hamsa) who sports in the outside world. He is the controller of the whole world, both stationary and moving.

71. Without hands and feet He goes fast and grasps; without eyes He sees; without ears He hears. He knows all that is to be known. Yet there is none who knows Him. They call Him the first, the great person.

72. Subtler than even the subtlest and greater than the greatest, the Atman, is hidden in the heart of all creatures. One becomes free from all grief and desire by the grace of desireless creator, and realises Him as the great.

73. Bhakti is not contradictory to knowledge. On the contrary, it is a help to knowledge.

74. The grace of the Lord is necessary for the realisation of Advaitic oneness.

75. The same soul is in the ant and the elephant also. The same soul pervades the whole universe also. It is infinite. Therefore the Atman is subtler than even the subtlest, and greater than the greatest.

76. I know this undecaying, the ancient, the soul of all, who is omnipresent on account of His all-pervading nature and whom the knowers of Brahman declare to be free from birth, whom the knowers of Brahman proclaim to be eternal.

Adhyaya Four

Prayer

77. May that divine being, the one who though Himself colourless, creates various colours in different ways by means of His own power, with a set purpose, and who dissolves the whole world in Himself in the endmay He endow us with a pure intellect.

78. Just as a ray of light which is itself colourless assumes different colours when it passes through a prism, so also the formless Brahman assumes various forms for His own Lila or sporting.

79. That itself is Agni (fire). That is Aditya (the sun). That is Vayu (air). That is Chandramas (the moon). That is also the starry firmament. That is the Brahman (Hiranyagarbha). That is water. That is Prajapati.

81. Thou art the dark blue fly. Thou art the green parrot with red eyes. Thou art the thunder-cloud, the seasons and the oceans. Thou art without beginning. Thou art the Infinite. Thou art He from whom all the worlds are born.

82. There is one unborn being, a female of red, white, and black colours, who produces many offsprings like herself. There is one unborn being, male who loves her and lies by her. There is another unborn male who leaves her after having enjoyed her.

Parable of The Two Birds

83. Two birds of beautiful plumage, who are inseparable friends, dwell upon one and the same tree. Of these two the one eats the sweet fruit, while the other looks on without eating.

84. The two birds are the individual soul (Jiva) and the supreme Soul (Paramatman). The Jiva is only a reflection of the supreme Soul. Hence they are inseparable.

85. The tree is this body. The fruit of the tree are pleasure and pain, the result of one's past actions.

86. Dwelling on the same tree, the individual soul gets entangled and feels miserable. He is deluded and grieves for his impotence. When he sees the other, contented and knows His glory, he becomes free from sorrow.

87. Of what use are the Vedas to him who does not know that indestructible, highest ethereal Being in whom all the Vedas reside? Only those who know that rest contented.

88. The Lord of Maya protects or creates the Vedas, the sacrifices, the ceremonies, religious observances, what has been what has to be, all that the Vedas declare and this whole world, including ourselves. The other is bound by Maya in this.

89. Know then that Prakriti (nature) is Maya, and the great God is the Lord of Maya. This whole world is pervaded by beings who are His parts.

The Avenue of Peace

90. One attains infinite peace when he realises the Lord, the adorable God, the bestower of blessings, who, though one, presides over the various aspects of Prakriti, and in whom this universal dissolves, and in whom it appears in various forms.

91. May Rudra the creator and supporter of the Gods, the great seer, the Lord of all, who saw Hiranyagarbha being born, endow us with pure or auspicious intellect.

92. Let us give reverence with oblations to that blissful God, who is the Lord of the Devas, who rules the bipeds and the quadrupeds, and in whom all the worlds rest.

93. He who realises Him, who is subtler than the subtlest, who creates the world in the midst of chaos, who assumes many forms, who is the only one that envelopes the world, the blissful one (Siva), attains infinite peace.

94. He alone is the protector of the world at the proper time. He is the Lord of the world hidden in all beings. In Him Brahma-Rishis and the deities merge themselves. He who knows Him thus, cuts asunder the fetters of death.

95. He who knows Siva, the blissful one, who is hidden in all beings in an extremely subtle form, finer than the essence of ghee, who alone envelops the universe, is freed from all fetters.

96. That God, the creator of the universe, the supreme soul, always dwells in the heart of all beings, being limited by the heart, intellect and mind. Those who know this become immortal.

97. When ignorance has disappeared, when there is neither day nor night, neither existence nor non-existence, then there is only Siva, the all-blessed one, who is imperishable, the adorable light of Savita (the deity of the sun). From Him the ancient wisdom has proceeded.

98. No one can grasp Him above or across, or in the middle. There is no likeness or equal of Him whose name is great glory.

99. His form cannot be seen. No one perceives Him with the eye. Those who know Him through intuition, thus abiding in the heart, become immortal.

102. Ignorance verily is mortal, knowledge verily is immortal. In the imperishable and infinite highest Brahman, knowledge and ignorance are hidden. Entirely different from these is Brahman who controls both ignorance and knowledge.

103. It is He who, being one only, presides over every source of production and every form. He sees the birth of the first-born seer of golden colour and endows him with every kind of knowledge at the commencement of creation.

104. This God spreads out one net after another in various ways and withdraws it together in that field. Thus again having created the rulers, the great soul holds His Lordship over all.

105. Just as the sun shines lightening up all quarters above, below, and across, so also does that one adorable God, the blessed one, rule over whatever creatures are born from the womb.

106. He, who is the one source of the world, brings the maturity of the nature of all and leads creatures who can be brought to maturity, to perfection, and endows each being with its distinguishing qualities, and rules this whole universe.

107. He is concealed in the Upanishads that are concealed in the Vedas. Hiranyagarbha knows Him as the source of himself (or as the source of the Vedas). Those gods and seers who realised Him in days of yore, became identified with Him, and verily became immortal.

108. He (the individual soul) who is attached with the qualities, performs actions for the sake of fruits and enjoys the fruits of his own actions. Though He is really the Lord of life, He becomes bound by the three Gunas, assumes various forms, and wanders about through the three paths on account of his own actions.

109. Subtle as the point of a needle, brilliant like the sun, He alone is perceived even as another (different from the universal Soul) of the size of a thumb, endowed with egoism and will, on account of the limitation of the intellect and heart.

110. That individual soul is as subtle as the hundredth part of the point of a hair divided a hundred times. Yet He is in essence infinite. He has to be known.

111. He is neither female, nor male, nor neutral. Whatever body He takes, with that he becomes identified or joined or connected.

112. By means of thoughts, contact, sight and delusion, the embodied soul assumes successively various forms in various places, in accordance with its actions, just as the body grows by the use of food and drink.

113. The individual soul chooses or assumes many forms, gross and subtle, according to its own qualities, the qualities of its actions and the qualities of its mind. The cause of union with those forms is found to be still another.

114. The cause of one's union with the body is the Lord.

115. He who knows Him who has no beginning and no end, who creates the world in the midst of chaos, who assumes many forms and who envelopes the universe, is freed from all fetters.

116. Those who know the God who is to be realised by direct intuitive perception, who is incorporeal or immortal, who is the cause of existence and non-existence, who is all-blessed and the cause of the origin of the sixteen parts, are freed from further embodiment.

Adhyaya Six

The Path to Liberation

117. Some deluded thinkers speak of Nature, and others speak of time, as the cause of the universe. But it is the glory of God by which the Brahma-wheel revolves.

118. It is at the command of Him, who always envelopes the world, who is all-knowing, the Lord of time, possessor of qualities, Omniscient, that this work (creation) unfolds itself, which is called or thought as earth, water, fire, air and ether.

119. He creates his work and rests again, having entered into union with principle after principle, with one, with two, with three, or with eight, with time, too, and with the subtle qualities of the mind.

120. The eight principles are the eight producers of the Samkhyas, viz., Avyakta which is the root of all, intellect, egoism and the five subtle elements of matter (Tanmatras), or the five elements, mind, intellect and egoism. The one principle to which the soul is joined is Avyakta or Prakriti. The two are Avyakta and intellect; and the three are Avyakta, intellect and egoism.

121. There is another interpretation. The one principle is Avidya or ignorance; two are Dharma and Adharma (right and wrong), or Raga-Dvesha (likes and dislikes); the three are the three bodies, physical, subtle and causal, or the three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas; or the three Avasthas, the waking, dreaming and deep sleep states; or time, space and causation.

122. He gives the start to creation associated with the three Gunas, and orders all things. He causes destruction of the work in the absence of the Gunas, and remains apart in His essence after destruction.

123. He is the beginning, the origin of the causes by which (the body) is united (with the soul). He is beyond the three divisions of time (past, present and future). He is without parts, also. The adorable Lord, who appears as the world, who is the true source of all creatures abides in His own heart, is perceived by him who meditates or worships in his heart previously.

124. Higher and other than the world-tree, time and forms is He, from whom this universe proceeds, the source of all virtues, the destroyer of all sins, the Lord of all good qualities, know Him as in one's self, as the immortal abode of all the universe.

125. May we know Him, the transcendent and adorable Master of the world, who is the great supreme Lord of all lords, the supreme Deity of all deities, and the supreme Ruler of all rulers.

126. No action (or effort) or organ (Karanam) of His is found. There is not seen His equal, nor a superior. His great power is declared in the Vedas to be of various kinds. His knowledge, strength and action are described as inherent in Him.

127. There is no master of His in this world, no ruler of His, not even a sign of Him (by which He can be inferred). He is the cause, the Lord of the lords of the organs. He has no progenitor, nor is there anyone who is His lord.

128. May that only God, who spontaneously covers Himself with the products of Prakriti or Nature, just as a spider does with the threads (drawn from its own navel), grant us identity with Brahman.

129. The one God is hidden in all beings. He pervades all and He is the Inner Soul of all beings. He presides over all actions, and all beings dwell in Him. He is the witness, and He is the pure consciousness. He is alone, or single, and is devoid of all qualities.

130. He is the one controller of the inactive many. He makes the one seed manifold. The wise, who perceive Him within their self, to them belongs eternal happiness; not to others.

131. He is the eternal among the eternals, and the intelligent among all that are intelligent. Though one, He grants the desires of many. He who has known Him, the cause of all, who is to be comprehended by Sankhya (philosophy) and Yoga (religious discipline), is freed from all fetters.

132. The sun does not shine there, neither the moon, nor the stars. There these lightnings do not shine, how then this fire? When He shines, everything shines after Him. By His light all this shines.

133. He who is the one soul (Hamsa) destroyer of ignorance in the midst of the world, He alone is the fire which is seated in water. Knowing Him truly one overcomes death. There is no other path for liberation.

134. He creates the universe and knows the universe. He is His own source. He is all-knowing, and He is the Time of time (destroyer of time). He is endowed with all qualities of perfection. He knows everything in detail. He is the master of nature and men and the Lord of the Gunas. He is the cause of the bondage, the existence and the liberation of the world.

135. He is like Himself, immortal and abides in the form of the Ruler. He is the all-knowing, all-pervading, Protector of the world, the eternal Ruler. No one is able to rule over it.

136. I, desirous of liberation, resort to the God for refuge, whose light turns the intellect towards the Atman, who at the commencement of creation created Brahma and gave the Vedas to Him.

137. Who is without parts, without action, who is tranquil, blameless, spotless, the supreme bridge of immortality and who is like the fire that has consumed its fuel (to Him I go for refuge).

138. Only when man shall roll up sky like a skin, will there be an end of misery, unless God has first been known.

139. Only when the impossible becomes possible, such as the sky being rolled up by men, will misery cease, unless God has been realised in the heart. Miseries and sorrows will come to an end only when one realises God. If anybody strives to free himself from miseries, without realising God, all his efforts shall be as useless as the attempt to roll up the sky. This is the drift of this verse.

140. Having realised Brahman through the power of his penance and through the grace of God, the wise Svetasvatara expounded well to the highest order of Sannyasins the truth of that supremely holy Brahman resorted to by all the seers.

141. This highest secret or mystery in the Vedanta, expounded in a former age, should not be given to one whose passions have not been subdued, nor to anyone who is not a worthy son, nor to an unworthy disciple.

142. If these truths have been told to a high-souled one, who has supreme devotion to God, and as much devotion to his Guru or preceptor as to God, then alone they will shine forth, then alone they will shine forth, indeed.